by
Mike Lockatell
A fellow iris breeder from Northern Virginia once told me Christmas for him came each Spring and late December. After concentrating on creating reliable cool season bearded iris rebloomers in all classes starting in 2001, Christmas for me comes with seedling bloom in April, September, October, November plus 12/25. This script played out again this way in 2021.
Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic most of my time in 2020 was spent in my two iris plantings at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (JSRCC) in Goochland County and BP Market in North Chesterfield. The result was that many seedlings growing in four-inch pots on my gravel driveway finally found the ground. Even after additional planting in 2021, more seedling flats remain to get a chance to strut their stuff in my limited garden space.
My first cross pollination for cool season rebloom occurred in 2001. It featured TB Jurassic Park (Lauer, 1995), a canary yellow and blended lavender blue purple bicolor combined with a Zurbrigg tall bearded space rebloom seedling with similar coloring to TB Edith Wolford (Hager, 1985). One short tall bearded reblooming bicolor reselect, Lockatell TB Re 20150-11 Bicolor, was used with another Zurbrigg short tall bearded white rebloomer (VV 72) in 2006.
Lockatell TB 20625, another yellow and blue-purple non reblooming bicolor, was later used with TB Re Just Call Me (Wilkerson, 2008) in 2010. One short tall bearded blue amoena and two bicolors were produced and planted. Lockatell TB Re 21026-02Re Bicolor was nearly lost in a guest garden mix-up. It was added to the JSRCC lineup and has produced late October flowers in 2020 and 2021.
Lockatell TB Re 21220-02Re resulted from TB Love Lines (Wilkerson, 1996) X TB Re Metro Blue (Lockatell, 2015). The hyacinth blue has sturdy bloomstalks with high bud count. Fall flowering in Central Virginia takes place in late October. As a guest iris for AIS Spring Regional Meetings in Tennessee and North Carolina, Lockatell TB Re 21220-02Re however rebloomed in late August and early September. These conflicting performances are still a mystery.
Lockatell TB Re 21233 Red Blend or (TB Re Northward Ho X TB Wearing Rubies (Blyth, 2001/02) continues to turn in consistent fall bloom at both JSRCC and BP Market. Originally planted in my South Richmond display bed, some divisions were planted during the fall season in 2018 at JSRCC. Richmond, VA hosted the 2019 AIS Region Fall Meeting. Lockatell TB Re 21233 Red Blend was exhibited in the event's flower show and won “Best Seedling in Show.”
TB Re Northward Ho (Zurbrigg, 1991) X TB Re Echo Location (Wilkerson, 2007) is behind Lockatell TB Re 21334. Coloring, bloom habits and vigor were inherited from its pollen parent. The Wilkerson tall bearded rebloomer is also vigorous with late fall flowering most years in Central Virginia. My seedling saw similar performance at JSRCC. Lockatell TB Re 21334 was sent to Tennessee and North Carolina for AIS Spring Regional Meetings. Rebloom occurred in August and early September. Results in these micro-climates were unexpected. Timing raised a few questions, so more evaluation will be needed to come up with answers.
Another long time Zurbrigg tall bearded rebloomer folded into my breeding work is TB Re Harvest of Memories (Zurbrigg, 1985). My mentor's only introduced seedling from TB Re Corn Harvest (Wyatt, 1977) cross pollinations, the Dresden yellow self-features blue amoena in its pedigree. A combination for the trait with TB Re Just Call Me seemed like a good idea.
Lockatell TB Re 21424-9 or (TB Re Harvest of Memories X TB Re Just Call Me) did not yield a blue amoena, but a very high quality white rebloomer. The tall bearded is a vigorous grower. Fragrant blooms with a diamond dusted finish, has turned in early fall flowering on multiple bloomstalks without ANY supplemental watering in my BP Market display bed over the past two years. This selection is headed for eventual introduction.
One of my cool season reblooming iris breeding goals is to continue trying to create improved red plicatas. My first success for the trait came with BB Re Double Dare (Lockatell, 2014). A short tall bearded sibling to Double Dare was used as a pollen parent with TB Re Echo Location. The Kentucky introduction has red plicata in its heritage. Lockatell TB Re 21438 appears to have acquired each parent's best qualities.
A red plicata with a yellow ground, this seedling had heavy rebloom in September 2020. Flower form wasn't the greatest, but the coloring was an eyecatcher. After rebloom ended, increase was hard to find for spring bloom. Had the clump bloomed out? The answer was thankfully no. Bloomstalks did appear the following spring to make cross pollinations.
Increase volume after spring bloom was still a little shy leading up to fall flowering in 2021. Timing was the same with early September flowering on two bloomstalks. Flower form improved, so spring bloom will be closely watch for both increase and flower quality. Some dividing will be pursued next summer to evaluate replanting.
One hopeful seedling lucky enough to find a spot in my JSRCC display beds was Lockatell BB Re 21221. The poor thing sat in a six-inch pot on our gravel driveway for years. Thankfully for it and me, its increase and parentage led to fall planting in 2020.
Maiden flowering took place in mid-June the following year. Was it delayed spring bloom or summer rebloom? The answer came in a few months. Lockatell BB Re 21221 started a second bloom sequence beginning on 9/20. The show finally ended with a mid-November hard freeze. Despite its tall bearded pedigree, nicely ruffled white flowers have yellow shoulders and orange beards were in class. Future prospects remain high for this surprising median seedling.
Lockatell BB Re 21429-12 resulted from two tall bearded rebloomers (TB Re Echo Location (Wilkerson, 2007) X TB Autumn Shower (Lockatell, 2021) to create improved fall flowering red plicatas. Despite its heritage, my seedling is in class. Flowers are a rich rose red with a white ground on each fall. Each petal is accented with yellow veining. The shoulders on each fall are yellow with rose red veining around orange beards. Blooms are a pleasing sight in the autumn garden.
Lockatell BB Re 21429-12 is a solid grower at JSRCC. Bloom however has fallen with expanding clump size. This seedling was sent to Las Cruces, New Mexico for the AIS National Convention now scheduled for 2022. Co-Chair Scarlett Ayres reported summer bloom in a tour bed at New Mexico State University and further flowering at the same location in 2021.
My red plicata median seedling was planted from a four-inch pot at BP Market. One fan persisted and formed a bloomstalk in late October. Bloom was recorded and lasted to mid-November. New increase was present, so maybe this hopeful has settled into its new environment for future evaluation. Time will tell.
Two Lockatell SDB Re seedlings have resided in my BP Market planting for many years. Lockatell SDB Re 21245-02Re or SDB Re Senorita Frog (D. Spoon, 2002) X SDB Re Sailboat Bay (Zurbrigg, 2004) has blooms similar to its pod parent, Standards are light yellowish green. Fall petals have a deeper thumbprint pattern around orange-red beards tipped lavender blue.
After being neglected for a few seasons, Lockatell SDB Re 21245-02Re turned in an appealing fall performance in 2021. The first rebloom sequence began on 10/15 and lasted until 11/10. As daytime temperatures rose in late November until New Year's, this median seedling had open blooms on 12/19.
Lockatell SDB Re 21256 BP has always produced early November rebloom. Like Lockatell SDB Re 21245-02Re, the unseasonably warm weather in late November helped produce additional flowering in mid-December. Standards are pale citrogen green with pale French blue midribs. Citrogen green falls are darker in fall with a French blue midline. Yellow beards are tipped French blue.
Another interesting seedling at BP Market is Lockatell SDB Re 21246. The parentage is SDB Re Going Twice (Lauer, 2009) X SDB Re Purple Joy (D. Spoon, 2009). Standards are French blue. Falls are darker olive green with a lighter edge and fine French blue midline. Beards are French blue with red in throat. November rebloom has been obtained in previous years.
Lockatell SDB Re 21819 PNK features Lockatell SDB Re 21256 BP X Lockatell SDB Re 21246. This pink colored seedling bloomed at MDB height during this past fall. Flowers appeared on 10/8 thru 11/8. More developing bloomstalks were present upon Jack Frost 's arrival in mid-November. Sister seedlings also had bloomstalks. Lockatell SDB Re seedlings exhibited excellent increase and will be closely watched during spring bloom in 2022.
Lockatell SDB Re 21068 came from SDB Re Sailboat Bay (Zurbrigg, 2004) X SDB Re Inner Space (Tasco, 2009). A shortcoming was one terminal bud and no side branch on each bloomstalk. This median seedling however rebloomed at my BP Market planting in South Richmond for seven months in 2015. Unbelievable!! Yellow flowers had a faint maroon thumbprint on each fall. SDB Re Rosalie Loving (Spoon, 2003) has white standards and yellow falls with a maroon thumbprint. A cross pollination with Lockatell SDB Re 21068 in 2016 yielded some interesting children.
Coming into fall flowering at JSRCC in 2021, bloom on Lockatell SDB Re 21620-02Re had been overshadowed by other siblings. This hopeful turned the tables with a July bloomstalk before producing outstanding fall flowering from 9/20 until frost in mid-November. Light yellow flowers with red thumbprints on each fall have two terminal buds and a side branch. There were additional developing bloomstalks prior to Jack Frost's November visit.
Lockatell SDB Re 21620-01Re has more vivid coloring than its sibling. Planted a year earlier, the bright yellow with a richer red thumbprint on each fall would not start flowering until late October. An excellent grower, the clump needed dividing. A hefty division was taken in early September and planted at BP Market. The division produced a surprising short stalk in flower at Christmas. The overgrown clump at JSRCC undoubtedly led to disappointing fall results in 2021.
The parentages in each seedling gallery reveal Zurbrigg and Wilkerson influences on my breeding ideas. Betty's work built on my mentor's fifty-year effort to improve rebloom quality and reliability in more US Hardiness Zones.
TB Re Clarence (Zurbrigg, 1991) figured in TB Re Just Call Me and TB Re Earl of Essex (Zurbrigg, 1980) was folded into TB Re Echo Location. These varieties led to refinements in amoenas, bicolors and plicata patterns in my seedlings not seen in cool season bearded iris rebloom development to this point. TB Re Northward Ho introduced the same year as Wister Medal winning TB Re Clarence is another forgotten rebloomer producing interesting seedling for me. On the median side, SDB Re Sailboat Bay has been an invaluable parent for colorings and patterns plus rebloom. For whatever reason, there remains little motivation amongst my fellow iris breeders to incorporate these treasures into their own hybridizing lines for reliable fall flowering.
The late Monty Byers was a believer in using Zurbrigg rebloomers and space age named varieties and seedlings in his legendary iris breeding forty years ago. His smart decision making led to three Dykes Medal Awards for his tall bearded space age named varieties. Byers rebloom introductions did not win the American Iris Society's top garden award, but they are still widely grown to this day. Like Lloyd Zurbrigg and Betty Wilkerson, his efforts were NOT in vain.
